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PubMed1996

Distribution of 6R-L-erythro-5,6,7,8-tetrahydrobiopterin in regional brain areas of inbred strains of rats and mice with different alcohol preferences.

6R-L-erythro-5,6,7,8-tetrahydrobiopterin (6R-BH4) is a coenzyme for tyrosine, tryptophan and phenylalanine hydroxylases, the former two of which are the initial and the rate-limiting enzymes in the biosynthesis of catecholamines and serotonin, respectively. The present study was conducted to determine the levels of 6R-BH4 in the inbred strains of rats BN and F344, and the inbred strains of mice C57BL/6J, C3H/HeJ and DBA/2J, with different genetically determined alcohol preferences. Previous studies have shown that BN and F344 rats exhibit a high and low alcohol preference, respectively; that C57BL/6J and DBA/2J mice show a high and low alcohol preference, respectively, and that C3H/HeJ mice exhibit a moderate alcohol preference. The levels of 6R-BH4 were measured in five regional brain areas of rats and in two regional brain areas of mice. There was about a 3-fold difference in 6R-BH4 levels across the rat brain areas assayed, ranging from a low level in the frontal cortex to a high level in the striatum and midbrain. Midbrain 6R-BH4 levels in F344 rats were higher than those of BN rats (p < 0.05). On the other hand, striatal 6R-BH4 levels in DBA/2J mice were higher than those of the other two strains of mice (p < 0.05). These results indicate that 6R-BH4 is distributed throughout the nigro- and mesostriatal dopaminergic nervous systems, and that brain 6R-BH4 levels may be involved in the genetic differences in alcohol-drinking behavior in animal models.

Alcohol Drinking↗

PubMed2003

Who comes to voluntary, community-based alcohol screening? Results of the first annual National Alcohol Screening Day, 1999.

OBJECTIVE: The feasibility of the 1999 voluntary, community-based National Alcohol Screening Day (NASD) was assessed by determining 1) the extent to which community and college sites were registered to hold screenings and the extent to which the subjects came to participate, 2) the demographic and clinical characteristics of the participants at these screening sites, and 3) the extent to which individuals who were referred for evaluation and treatment adhered to follow-up recommendations. METHOD: Registered community and college sites were documented. Screening forms returned by the participants were analyzed. A subgroup of randomly selected participants from community and college sites was contacted by telephone. RESULTS: A total of 1,218 community sites and 367 [corrected] college sites participated in NASD. At the 1,089 sites that reported results, 32,876 people participated, 18,043 were screened, and 5,959 were referred for treatment. Forty-three percent of those screened at these sites had a score of 8 or more on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), indicating harmful or hazardous drinking. Only 13% of those screened had previous alcohol treatment. In the subgroup that participated in the follow-up survey (N=704), community participants (N=337) had higher mean scores on the AUDIT than the college participants (N=337). Approximately 50% of the community participants and 20% of the college participants adhered to the recommendation to pursue follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Voluntary, community-based screening for alcohol problems is feasible and offers education, screening, and referral for many individuals with harmful or hazardous drinking behavior.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

Social and coping reasons for drinking: predicting alcohol misuse in adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: Motivational models of alcohol consumption suggest a positive relationship between reasons for drinking and the amount of alcohol consumed. The present study examined race, gender, and age as moderators of the relationship between social and coping motives and alcohol misuse in black and white adolescents. METHOD: A representative population sample (N = 699) of male and female (54%) adolescents between the ages of 13 and 16 was recruited using a random-digit-dial telephone procedure. Six face-to-face interviews with subjects and their families were carried out at approximately yearly intervals. Information gathered assessed alcohol use, social and coping motives for drinking, and psychological distress. RESULTS: Multiple analyses, including both cross-sectional and longitudinal logistic regression analyses and survival analysis were used to examine the relationship of drinking motives to adolescent alcohol misuse. Contrary to our predictions, social motive was a somewhat better predictor of alcohol misuse than was coping motive, particularly during mid- to late adolescence. However, there was some limited evidence of a significant relationship between coping motives and alcohol misuse in the mid-adolescent age group. Some support was found for racial differences such that social motives are better predictors of alcohol misuse among whites than among blacks and coping motives are better predictors among blacks. Few gender differences were found in the relationship of drinking motives and alcohol misuse. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest a stronger tendency for social and coping motives to influence alcohol misuse during mid to late than in early adolescence. Research examining the development of motives and the mechanisms by which they influence drinking behavior is needed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2000

Individual differences predictive of drinking to manage anxiety among non-problem drinkers with panic disorder.

BACKGROUND: Alcohol problems co-occur with anxiety disorders at a rate that far exceeds chance ("comorbidity"). One view suggests that risk for developing a comorbid alcohol use disorder is increased when alcohol is used routinely to cope with anxiety symptoms ("self-medication"). Indicating that this view is overly broad, however, the literature suggests that only a subgroup of anxiety-disordered individuals tend to drink to manage their symptoms. Therefore, we set out to identify psychological characteristics that might mark those for whom drinking to cope with anxiety is most likely. Our survey of the literature identified several possibilities, including anxiety-related personality traits (anxiety sensitivity, self-consciousness and Trait Anxiety); higher-order personality dimensions (Harm Avoidance, Reward Dependence, and Novelty Seeking); and, finally, alcohol outcome expectancies (specifically, those related to tension-reducing effects from alcohol). METHODS: In a sample of nonproblem drinkers with panic disorder, we regressed predictor variables on several alcohol use measures, including drinking aimed at the control of anxiety symptoms ("self-medication"). RESULTS: Although each variable related positively to a self-medicating style of drinking, expectancies for tension reduction from alcohol use accounted for about twice as much variance as did the other predictors. With simultaneous entry in a step-wise regression analysis, only tension-reduction alcohol outcome expectancies and the Harm Avoidance personality dimension were retained as significant predictors. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that development of a self-medicating style of drinking among individuals with panic disorder is predicated, in part, on specific psychological characteristics of the individual. Alcohol outcome expectancies emerged as the single most important predictor of drinking behavior in this anxiety-disordered sample.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Personality traits and behaviors of alcohol-impaired drivers: a comparison of first and multiple offenders.

Using an interview and questionnaire format, 358 driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) first offenders and 141 DUI multiple offenders were compared on measures of personality traits, drinking behavior and problems, and driving behavior and history. In addition, official driving records for the two groups were compared. Results indicated that multiple offenders were significantly higher in hostility, sensation seeking, psychopathic deviance, mania, and depression than first offenders. Multiple offenders were significantly lower in emotional adjustment and assertiveness. Multiple offenders had significantly more nontraffic arrests, accidents, and traffic tickets than first offenders. They also consumed significantly more alcohol, evidenced more alcohol problems, and had higher BACs at the time of arrest than first offenders. Results are discussed in terms of general problem behavior and implications for intervention and treatment.

Accidents, Traffic↗

PubMed1994

Psychological expectancy as mediator of vulnerability to alcoholism.

Alcohol expectancy has proven to be a powerful predictor of drinking behavior, including alcoholism, in a wide range of groups. Three recent studies that begin to address expectancy's relation to other alcoholism vulnerability factors are reviewed. Results indicate that: (1) expectancies for reinforcement from alcohol predate teens' first drinking experiences; (2) expectancies predict subsequent drinking onset and problem drinking; (3) high initial expectancies lead to a vicious cycle of progressively more drinking and more positive expectancies during the adolescent years; (4) expectancy mediates the influence of family drinking history on adolescent drinking; and (5) as an alcohol-specific risk factor, expectancy adds to and (in women) interacts with more general, dispositional (personality) risk factors to predict problem drinking in young adults. These findings support the model of expectancy as a mediator of the original causal influences of earlier learning experiences.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Effect of pattern and number of chronic ethanol exposures on subsequent voluntary ethanol intake in C57BL/6J mice.

RATIONALE: We previously demonstrated that chronic ethanol exposure and withdrawal experience significantly increased subsequent voluntary ethanol intake in C57BL/6J mice. This study was conducted to examine chronic ethanol conditions that optimize this enhanced ethanol-drinking behavior. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to examine whether the pattern and/or number of chronic ethanol exposures influence subsequent ethanol intake. METHODS: C57BL/6J mice were trained to drink ethanol (15% v/v) in a limited access situation (2 h/day) until stable intake was achieved. In experiment 1, mice received two cycles of chronic ethanol exposure delivered either in an intermittent [multiple withdrawal (MW)] or continuous [continuous exposure (CE)] pattern. One week of daily drinking sessions followed each exposure. In experiment 2, mice received either two or four cycles of chronic intermittent ethanol exposure (MW), each followed by a week of testing sessions. Three additional weeks of ethanol intake testing followed the last ethanol (or air) exposure. RESULTS: Experiment 1: Only the MW group evidenced a significant increase in ethanol intake compared to controls after the first chronic ethanol exposure. Both MW and CE groups consumed more ethanol than controls after the second ethanol-exposure period. Experiment 2: Ethanol intake in MW mice compared to controls significantly increased after two or four cycles of chronic ethanol exposure/withdrawal, and this heightened ethanol intake lasted longer in mice that received four cycles of chronic intermittent ethanol exposure. CONCLUSIONS: Increased voluntary ethanol intake after chronic ethanol exposure and withdrawal experience may be accelerated by intermittent (as opposed to continuous) ethanol exposure, and the effect may last longer with increased number of such experiences.

Alcohol Drinking↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Mmu and D2 receptor antisense oligonucleotides injected in nucleus accumbens suppress high alcohol intake in genetic drinking HEP rats.

Numerous pharmacological and other studies have implicated both Mmu and dopamine receptor subtypes in alcohol consumption. In the genetic drinking rat as well as those chemically induced to drink, evidence has accrued that the abnormal intake of alcohol is underpined by these receptors in the brain. The purpose of this investigation was to demonstrate unequivocally that a biological impairment by antisense oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN) targeted specifically to these two receptor subtypes would disrupt ongoing alcohol drinking. In this project, a new strain of female and male high-ethanol preferring (HEP) rats was used that had free access to preferred concentrations of alcohol over water in a two choice paradigm. A guide cannula for a microinjection needle was first implanted bilaterally above the nucleus accumbens (NAC) of each rat. Following recovery, a dose of either 250 or 500 ng of the Mmu ODN or 500 ng D2ODN was microinjected into the NAC of the rat in a volume of 0.8-1.0 microl. A standard temporal sequence was used in which microinjections were given four times at successive 12-h intervals over a 2-day interval. The control mismatch ODNs corresponding to both the Mmu or D2 receptor antisense were microinjected identically at homologous sites in the NAC. Following the experiments, the brain of each rat was removed and sectioned in the coronal plane for histological analysis so that each microinjection site was identified. The results showed that the Mmu receptor antisense caused a significant dose dependent fall in free access alcohol drinking within 12 to 24 h following the initial microinjection. This decline often persisted for 1 to 2 days in terms of both g/kg intake and proportion of alcohol to water consumed. Similarly, the D2 receptor ODN likewise induced an intense and significant decline in both g/kg and proportion measures of alcohol intake. Since the corresponding mismatch ODN for both Mmu and D2 receptors exerted no effect on either of these measures of alcohol consumption, the specificity of molecular action of the respective antisense molecules on drinking behavior of the HEP rats was confirmed. Thus, these results provide the first unequivocal evidence that the genes for D2 and Mmu receptors are fundamentally involved in abnormal alcohol drinking in the genetically predisposed individual. Finally, important new anatomical evidence is introduced for the critical role of the NAC in the genetic basis of aberrant drinking of alcohol.

Alcohol Drinking↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Comfortably engaging: which approach to alcohol screening should we use?

PURPOSE: We wanted to compare 2 screening instruments for problem drinking, the CAGE and a single question, assessing frequency of use, patient and clinician comfort, and patient engagement in change. METHODS: The study was a crossover, cluster-randomized clinical trial with 31 clinicians in Missouri and 13 in the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) National Network for Family Practice and Primary Care Research; 2,800 patients provided data. The clinician was the unit of randomization. Clinicians decided whether to screen each patient; if they chose to screen, they used the screening approach assigned for that block of patients. The clinician and patient separately completed questionnaires immediately after the office visit to assess each one's comfort with screening (and any ensuing discussion) and the patient's engagement in change. RESULTS: Missouri clinicians screened more patients when assigned the single question (81%) than the CAGE (69%, P = .001 in weighted analysis). There was no difference among AAFP network clinicians (96% of patients screened with the CAGE, 97% with the single question). Eighty percent to 90% of clinicians and 70% of patients reported being comfortable with screening and the ensuing discussion, with no difference between approaches in either network. About one third of patients who were identified as problem drinkers reported thinking about or planning to change their drinking behavior, with no difference in engagement between screening approaches. CONCLUSIONS: Clinicians and patients reported similar comfort with the CAGE questions and the single-question screening tools for problem drinking, and the 2 instruments were equal in their ability to engage the patient. In Missouri, the single question was more likely to be used.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Evaluating the Lions-Quest "Skills for Adolescence" drug education program: first-year behavior outcomes.

Thirty-four schools (n=7426 consented sixth graders, 71% of the eligible population) were randomized to conditions to test the hypothesis that "Skills for Adolescence" (SFA) is more effective than standard care in deterring and delaying substance use through middle school. One-year posttest data were collected from 6239 seventh graders (84% of those eligible). Initiation of "ever" and "recent" use of five substances for baseline nonusers and changes in recent use for baseline users by experimental condition were compared using mixed model regression to control for school clustering. For pretest nonusers, recent cigarette smoking was lower for SFA than controls (P<.05), as was lifetime marijuana use (P<.06). There were also three Treatment x Ethnicity interactions around drinking behaviors. Hispanics in SFA were less likely to ever and recently drink, and to recently binge drink than Hispanic controls; there were no treatment differences among non-Hispanics. For baseline users, there were three significant SFA delays in transition to experimental or recent use of more "advanced" substances: drinking to smoking, drinking to marijuana use, and binge drinking to marijuana.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2001

"These young chaps think they are just men, too": redistributing masculinity in Kgatleng bars.

In the 19th century the BaKgatla polity was a chiefdom with a redistributional economy based on mixed agriculture. Sorghum beer was symbolic not only of the patrilineal core of their descent system and of the ideologies of reciprocity and redistribution, but also of masculinity and patriarchal control. With the establishment of a market economy, an industrial brewery and individual access to income, both beer and the act of drinking have been symbolically reconstructed. The ideology of redistribution was well suited to the support of the BaKgatla gerontocracy via alcohol production and consumption. The limits on production and consumption of beer inherent in the agricultural cycle and the control of young men's access by elders made alcohol an effective symbol of managerial competence from the limited context of household authority to that of the chiefdom as a whole. Today, young men's greater control of cash income has given them access to beer beyond the control of elders. As a result, the contrasting ideology of market exchange and competitive distribution of beer has contributed to the degradation of the power of seniors. After reviewing the historical background, this paper explores those changes. It argues that while the observed infrastructural changes have had a predictable impact on drinking behaviors and the symbolic structure of "seniority/masculinity", constructions of the "masculine community" in BaKgatla bars demonstrate continuity in key areas of mens' identities. If as anthropologists we see obvious discontinuities in behavior and ideology, the BaKgatla build selective bridges to "tradition" which seemingly ground the experience of change in relatively seamless continuity.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Regional brain contents of serotonin, dopamine and their metabolites in the selectively bred high- and low-alcohol drinking lines of rats.

The contents of dopamine (DA), serotonin (5-HT) and their primary acid metabolites were assayed in ten brain regions of the selectively bred high-alcohol drinking (HAD) and low-alcohol drinking (LAD) lines of rats. Compared with the LAD line, the contents of 5-HT and/or 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid were approximately 10-20% (p less than 0.05) lower in several brain regions of the HAD line (cerebral cortex, striatum, nucleus accumbens, septal nuclei, hippocampus and hypothalamus). The levels of DA, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid and homovanillic acid were also 10-20% lower in the nucleus accumbens and anterior striatum (p less than 0.05) of the HAD animals. These data are in agreement with previous findings that comparatively lower levels in 5-HT and DA systems are associated with high-alcohol drinking in rodents and support the involvement of certain 5-HT and DA pathways in the mediation of alcohol drinking behavior.

3,4-Dihydroxyphenylacetic Acid↗

PubMed2005

Different expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in the nucleus accumbens of alcohol-preferring (P) and -nonpreferring (NP) rats.

Recent studies suggest that the gene that encodes brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) might be linked with vulnerability to alcohol abuse. We have now compared BDNF protein levels in several brain regions between alcohol-naive alcohol-preferring (P) and -nonpreferring (NP) rats using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) procedure. The results showed that BDNF levels in the nucleus accumbens of the P rats were significantly lower than those of the NP rats, suggesting that this innate difference may contribute to the disparate alcohol drinking behavior of the P and NP rats.

Alcohol Drinking↗

PubMed1996

Naltrexone increases the latency to drink alcohol in social drinkers.

We investigated the effects of naltrexone (NTX) on alcohol drinking, urge to drink alcohol, and alcohol-induced sensations and mood states in social drinkers consuming alcohol ad libitum in a cocktail bar. Sixteen college-age men and women participated in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, within-subjects, cross-over study. Subjects were tested during each of three drug conditions: NTX, 50 mg/ day, po; inactive placebo; and no drug. Each treatment condition lasted 8 to 11 days. Small groups of subjects consumed alcohol ad libitum during three 2-hr evening drinking sessions, separated by approximately-2 weeks. NTX treatment significantly increased the latency (time in seconds) to first sip the first (p < 0.05) and second alcoholic beverages consumed (p < 0.01). Moreover, the mean blood alcohol concentration at the end of the session was significantly lower when subjects were treated with NTX (p < 0.05). No differences were found on self-report urge to drink alcohol. Subjects reported more fatigue and tension on the Profile of Mood States (p < 0.05), before drinking, and increases in nausea on the Alcohol Sensation Scale (p < 0.05) when treated with NTX. The increase in the latency to sip the first and second alcoholic beverages may reflect the capacity of NTX to block urge for alcohol elicited from external cues (before consuming alcohol), as well as urge for alcohol after priming from ingested alcohol. Thus, the effectiveness of NTX for reducing drinking behaviors of alcoholics may be partially caused by anticraving properties of NTX.

Adult↗

PubMed1997

The therapeutic alliance and its relationship to alcoholism treatment participation and outcome.

The relationship between the therapeutic alliance and treatment participation and drinking outcomes during and after treatment was evaluated among alcoholic outpatient and aftercare clients. In the outpatient sample, ratings of the working alliance, whether provided by the client or therapist, were significant predictors of treatment participation and drinking behavior during the treatment and 12-month posttreatment periods, after a variety of other sources of variance were controlled. Ratings of the alliance by the aftercare clients did not predict treatment participation or drinking outcomes. Therapists ratings of the alliance in the aftercare sample predicted only percentage of days abstinent during treatment and follow-up. The results document the independent contribution of the therapeutic alliance to treatment participation and outcomes among alcoholic outpatients.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

Treating neonatal rats with 6-hydroxydopamine induced an increase in voluntary alcohol consumption.

Brain dopamine (DA) and serotonin (5-HT) neurotransmission have been implicated in the mediation of alcohol-seeking behavior. We examined the effects of treatment of neonatal rats (3 days after birth) with the neurotoxin 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA; 100 microg/10 microl, intracerebroventricularly) on the relationship between the levels of neurotransmitters and alcohol drinking behavior at the age of 14 weeks. 6-OHDA treatment reduced the levels of DA and its metabolite 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) in the nucleus accumbens (ACC), frontal cortex, striatum (STR), tegmentum/substantia nigra, and dorsal raphe nucleus. 5-HT levels in the ACC and STR were increased in the 6-OHDA-treated rats. 6-OHDA-treated rats showed increased alcohol consumption. There was a significant change in the ratio of [5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid]/[5-HT] in the ACC and STR of the treated rats, but no difference in the ratio of [DOPAC]/[DA] between the sham-operated controls and treated rats. 6-OHDA-treated rats had dopaminergic dysfunction in the five brain regions related to the reward system, in part, and a decrease in 5-HT turnover, including the accumulation of 5-HT in the ACC and STR. Furthermore, basal extracellular releases of DA and 5-HT of the ACC were significantly lower in the 6-OHDA-treated rats, compared with the controls. It was suggested that alcohol seeking behavior is associated with the alterations of dopaminergic neurons and the release of 5-HT in the mesocorticolimbic system.

3,4-Dihydroxyphenylacetic Acid↗

PubMed1984

Alcohol consumption patterns among American Indian and white college students.

College students in Oklahoma completed a self-administered questionnaire to compare the drinking behaviors of culturally active American Indians (N = 34 men and 24 women) an Whites (N = 181 men and 250 women). Significantly more Indians were classified as drinkers, but they had begun drinking at a somewhat later age. Both groups indicated a preference for beer, and they were quite similar in quantity and frequency of beer consumption. White students reported drinking significantly more wine and distilled spirits, and drinking more often in public places, such as bars, pubs, restaurants and parked cars; Indians drank more in their own homes and in the homes of friends. White students tended to cite hedonistic reasons for drinking whereas Indians reported escapist or social reasons and drinking to "get high." Drinking-related problems were reported somewhat more often by Indian students, notably so by Indian women. Indians were more inclined to report the more serious drinking problems of being arrested, blacking out, interference with school or work, an difficulties in human relationships. White students more often cited problems of nausea or vomiting, drinking and driving, doing something that was later regretted and damaging property. It was suggested that the higher Indian arrest rate could be indicative of police bias and that the reports of problem drinking among Indian women be investigated further.

Adult↗

PubMed1992

Self-control concerns and drinking loss of control in general and clinical populations.

In popular conceptions, loss of control over drinking involves a double loss of control, over one's life as well as over one's drinking. A measure of "control worries," concerning the experience of difficulties in controlling one's life, was developed. The relationships between measures of control worries, loss of control over drinking and heavy-drinking behavior were examined in samples both of alcohol treatment clients and of the general population in a California county. Alcohol treatment clients reported greater control worries and loss of control over drinking than members of the general population. Although control worries were only slightly correlated with drinking loss of control, this relationship tended to be conditional in the general population. The findings suggest that concerns about personal control in general may be a useful construct to consider in conjunction with the drinking loss of control concept.

Adult↗